Skateboards have been popular for several decades. Skateboards are no longer just used as a recreational device but are now used competitively in contests of acrobatic skill and for speed records. The speed records may be downhill or motor assisted on flat terrain. Attention has been given to develop high performance wheels including wheel bearing assemblies.
Due to the more aggressive acrobatics and higher speeds, higher side loads are encountered by the bearing assembly then normally encountered during recreational use. A bearing assembly must be able to resist these higher side loads and still maintain its structural integrity. The bearing assembly normally has an outer race and inner race with bearings seated therebetween. The outer race of the wheel bearing is normally securely pressed into a counterbore in the wheel hub. Installation of the wheel bearings is often a compromise between a certain amount of wobble and reductions of free spinning ability. A bearing spacer interposed between the two wheel bearings allows the bearings to be tightly installed and yet maintain free spinning.
While the known bearing spacers are adequate to axially affix both the inner race and outer race, they do not adequately prevent undesireable torsion or rocking of the inner race relative to the outer race. In an attempt to reduce undesireable rocking, the inner inboard and outboard races have been extended or stretched to form what is commonly referred to as a half spacer to abut each other in the middle of the wheel. In one construction, the inner race has its integral half spacer incorporate an enlarged flanged end to create more contact therebetween. However, these constructions have been only partially successful to resist torsion forces and the consequent rocking of the inner race relative to the outer race.
What is needed is an improved wheel bearing construction that resists torsion forces on the inner race relative to the outer race and provide for a more structurally strengthened wheel bearing assembly.